Forest Measurements Using ICESat- Geoscience Laser Altimeter System -A Review

Forests play a vital role in carbon cycle and in maintaining climate balance. The measurement of three dimensional forest structural attributes has a profound impact on the forest ecosystem management. Active remote sensing systems provide the capability to quantify the three dimensional structural of forests by measuring both the vertical as well as horizontal structure of forests. Vertical forest measurements can be directly and accurately estimated by means of the space borne Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) and it has been often used to estimate the forest structural attributes. This paper provides an introductory review of application of the Geoscience Laser Altimeter System (GLAS) onboard NASA’s Ice Cloud and Land Elevation Satellite (ICESat), for the three dimensional structural attribute measurements of forests. The review attempted to briefly explain the characteristics of ICESat/GLAS instruments, data processing and certain applications from the wide range of applications of GLAS data in forestry.